Steel shelving

ABSTRACT

LIGHT WEIGHT STEEL SHELVING IN WHICH SHORT SECTIONS OF CORNER POSTS ARE SNAP ASSEMBLED BY THE CUSTOMER IN ENDTO-END RELATIONSHIP AND HELD IN ALIGNMENT AND AGAINST SEPARATION BY A CONNECTOR WITH A MOLDED PAD CAMMED INTO PLACE BETWEEN THE ENDS IN WEIGHT BEARING RELATIONSHIP. THE CONNECTION ACCOMMODATES VARIOUS SHAPED POSTS AND COMPRISES AN ELONGATED GENERALLY U-SHAPED SPRING ELEMENT BRIDGING THE JOINED ENDS AND IS PROVIDED WITH CAMMING SHOULDERED SPRING ACTUATED DETENTS WHICH, UPON INSERTION AND ADVANCEMENT INTO THE ENDS OF POST SECTIONS SPRING INWARDLY OF THE WALLS OF THE POST SECTIONS UNTIL THE SHOULDERED DETENTS SNAP INTO SHOULDERED APERTURES IN THE POST WALLS IN INTERLOCKING RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH AGAINST RECTILINEAL SEPARATION. A SINGLE POST ASSEMBLY CAN BE DESASSEMBLED INDIVIDUALLY EITHER BY SLIGHT RELATIVE ROTATION WITHOUT DAMAGE TO THE POST BUT WHEN ASSEMBLED AS A CORNER POST IN SHELVING IS HELD AGAINST RELATIVE TWISTING AND PERFORMS AS AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OR, TIERED SHELVING CAN BE SEPARATED AS UNITS BY SPRING DETENT ENGAGING IN EITHER OF THE TWO ABUTTING POST SECTIONS PRESENT AT EACH CORNER OF THE SHELVING. PROVISION IS ALSO MADE WITH THE CONNECTOR FOR DECOR PANELS POSTS AND NESTED LEVELING PADS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE POSTS FOR STABILIZING THE SHELVING.

I. J. FERDINAND ETA].

s'mm; srmnvme m. as. m1

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.3b

Original Filed April 24, 196B F I G. 5 94 i 90 FIG.|

FIG.7

INVENTORS.

mwm J. FERDINAND IRWIN R. KULBERSH ATTYS m I. V I

0d. 2-6, 1011 I, FERm' AN ETAL Re. 21,200

STEEL SHELVING 2 Sheets-Shoot 1 Original Filed April 24, 1968 60 a d flDu M Q m m 6 fi t w 8/0 mwk a Q M a 0 2 m a 046 a m 4L j a w 48 6 0 0 85 v \\-q\\\k 0 3 9 m2 3 4S G F IRWIN J FERDINAND IRWIN R. KULBERSH W KMUnited States Patent Oflice Re. 27,200 Reissued Oct. 26, 1971 27,200STEEL SHELVING Irwin J. Ferdinand, Glencoe, and Irwin R. Kulbersh,Morton Grove, Ill., assignors to Hirsh Company Original No. 3,480,155,dated Nov. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 723,691, Apr. 24, 1968, which is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 691,545, Dec. 18, 1967. Application forreissue Jan. 19, 1970, Ser. No. 3,250

Int. Cl. A47f 5/00 U.S. Cl. 211-148 24 Claims Matter enclosed in heavybrackets appears in the original patent but forms no part of thisreissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates the additionsmade by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Light Weight steel shelving in which shortsections of corner posts are snap assembled by the customer in endto-endrelationship and held in alignment and against separation by a connectorwith a molded pad cammed into place between the ends in weight bearingrelationship. The connection accommodates various shaped posts andcomprises an elongated generally U-shaped spring element bridging thejoined ends and is provided with camming shouldered spring actuateddetents which, upon in sertion and advancement into the ends of postsections, spring inwardly of the walls of the post sections until theshouldered detents snap into shouldered apertures in the post walls ininterlocking relationship therewith against rectilineal separation. Asingle post assembly can be disassembled individually either by slightrelative rotation without damage to the posts but when assembled as acorner post in shelving is held against relative twisting and performsas an integral member or, tiered shelving can be separated as units byspring detents engaging in either of the two abutting post sectionspresent at each corner of the shelving. Provision is also made with theconnector for decor panels posts and nested leveling pads on the bottomof the posts for stabilizing the shelving.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is acontinuation-in-part of the application Ser. No. 691,545 filed Dec. 18,1967, now abandoned and the invention relates in part to U.S. Pat. No.3,255,722 issued June 14, 1966 to Ferdinand et al.; application Ser. No.597,344 filed Nov. 28, 1966, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,689 issued July 16,1968 to Ferdinand et al.; application Ser. No. 623,027 filed Mar. 14,1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,344 issued Apr. 15, 1969 to Ferdinand etal.; and application Ser. No. 668,433 filed Sept. 18, 1967 [by] now Pat.No. 3,479,975 issued to Ferdinand et al.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Knockdown shelving for customer assembly isshown in the above cross references, wherein the individual uprightcorner posts are from live to six feet, or longer, as standard lengthfor supporting five or six shelves. Provision is made for rapidly andrigidly securing the shelves in place on the posts and for adjusting theshelf levels after assembly if desired. Although endeavors have beenmade to provide short post sections that can be assembled end-to-end asshown in said [application Ser. No. 597,344] Pat. No. 3,392,689 it ismore satisfactory from a customer relations viewpoint for themanufacturer to assume the burdens of packaging long integral verticalsupports with the shelves rather than burden the customer with less thana completely satisfactory assembly of post sections. For these reason,shelving shipped in disassembled condition generally has single unitupright supports of the full length desired to reach from the floor tothe topmost shelf.

It will be observed from the cross references that it is highlydesirable that an assembled shelving unit have rugged corner posts andshelves rigidly connected thereto against sway for sustaining ratherheavy loads for extended periods of time and for handling, lifting,shifting and levelling the shelving with ease. When posts are made ofassembled sections they must have the rigidity, strength, pleasingappearance and versatility of an integral post with respect to forces inboth a vertical and horizontal direction. Any provision for assembly ofthe parts introduces potential areas where rigidity may be lacking orweakness incurred.

Earlier endeavors to provide assembled posts either provide postsreadily secured by rectilinear telescoping movement but withoutsecurement against being again pulled apart, or involve the extensiveuse of nuts and bolts for the tedious assembly by inexperiencedcustomers. If they are to be disassembled the reverse process is equallytedious. In some instances shelf securing elements support the postjoint at least in part and when the shelf is changed, the post assemblyis temporarily weakened or permanently left weakened if a replacementsecuring means is not supplied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a post assembly which can be readily assembled merely by atelescoping rectilineal movement of the parts to establish an interlockwhich cannot be dis-assembled by forces acting in the oppositedirection, yet can be readily dis- .assembled individually by relativetwisting rotational forces or a spring latch release. However, whenassembled as part of shelving the posts operate as integral elements yetwill permit level adjustment of the shelves without being weakened, andexcept for intentional use of a spring latch in one embodiment oflimited exposure cannot be disassembled by forces acting in anydirection. The present invention is further characterized by having theadvantages of integral posts of conventional length in that eachshelving unit can be handled and lifted at any one or more posts forlevelling and shifting the shelving without an upper section separatingfrom a lower section. The selves at any level may also serve as grippingelements at the posts for handling the shelving.

A further object of the invention is to provide a decor panel sectionalpost construction which has a particularly desirable radius of gyrationfor strength and pleasing appearance when assembled in shelving.

The present invention contemplates a post connector and post sectionshaving at least three parallel lines of interengagement under radialstress. Preferably a thin molded pad of hard plastic interengages theends of the post sections so that they embed slightly therein to securethem against relative horizontal shifting when under a vertical load.Because of a more favorable radius of gyration the parallel lines ofengagement are preferably four in number and equally spaced. Theconnector comprises an elongated substantially U-shaped member or springmetal and the post is a rolled tubular post of a generally octagonalcrosssection as shown in two embodiments, in which the edges are rolledclosed under stress to remain closed. A further embodiment relates to adecor panel post modification. In all of these there are four equallyspaced corners with work-hardened bordering metal and one side that isbordered by two of the corners having detent receiving aperturesadjacent opposite ends.

The back of the connector may be disposed to bridge the rolled edges ofthe post under some strain in which case the edges of the connectorengage the two opposing back wall post corners under opposing forcesexerted against the edges of the connector. The post and connector canbe disposed otherwise with a latch element interconnecting the two backswith appreciable space be tween their center portions. The same relationof forces is also preserved, except in the decor panel post andconnector where their backs are disposed against each other with theopposing forces at the post edges exerted towards each other.

The back of the connector has outwardly shear formed detents spaced fromeach other with shoulders of both facing each other. The posts adjacenttheir ends are clean punched to provide shoulders mating with and egaging the connector shoulders to prevent rectilineal disassembly of thepost sections after they have been once telescoped a certain distanceonto the connector. A small space is provided between the ends of theposts which is occupied by the weight bearing molded washer or pad, theconnector being notched out to receive and secure the pad in its correctposition.

Another feature of the invention is that the connector and padcombination is very Simple to understand and assemble correctly. Itscorner ends are finger compressed to enter the open ends of the postsections, and assembly is completed by pushing the post sections as faras they will go because the interlocking shoulders will permit this.With the intermediate pad in place, the assembly is complete. A unifiedpost is formed which shares the rigidity of a one-piece post of the sameoverall length.

If the intermediate pad was overlooked, the assembly;

can be easily disassembled by a relative rotation or spring detenturging and the omission corrected. Thereafter, once two or moreassembled posts are secured to shelves, relative rotation is preventedthereby and the shelving is as though it were made with integral posts,or two integrated assembled units.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One or more preferred embodiments of thisinvention are described in relation to the various drawings, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts:

FIG. I is a front perspective view of an assembly of shelves and uprightsupports embodying the improvements of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the two end portions takenfrom the front side of one form of upright support that can be used inaccordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of one form of pad and connector subassen1bly of this invention;

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of the connector taken on line 3a in FIG. 3;

FIG. 3B is a plan view of the shear formed detent means shown in FIGS. 2and 3;

FIG. 3C is a side view, partly in section of the shear formed detentmeans shown in FIG. 3B;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are perspective, plan and edge views, respectively, ofone form of pad elements of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view in partial section showing the subassembly of FIG.3 connecting two of the supports in FIG. 2 in abutting relationship witha pair of nested leveling units at the bottom or foot of the unitizedpost;

FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of another form of connector to beused in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the connection of twosupports by the connector shown in FIG. 8 and pad shown in FIG. 4 withnested leveling units at the foot of the unitized post;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken upon line 10-10 ofFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the assembled post of FIG. 9 twisted todissassemble the part;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of a T-slot-Tdetent locking joints modification embodying the invention to show theinterlocking edges;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a decor post with a connectorembodying the invention; and

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 13 showing anotherembodiment of a decor panel post.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 there isshown an assembled shelving unit 20 comprising a plurality of individualshelves 22 which are roll-formed from coated sheet metal in a mannerdescribed in Handler 3,304,760 for the purposes described in the relatedcases referred to herein. Briefly, each of the four corners of theshelves 22 are notched out as at 23 to receive and be rigidly secured tosupporting corner posts 34, and to intermediate posts 26 as moreparticularly described in Patent No. 3,255,722 and application Ser. No.668,433 and represented in FIG. 14. Each of the shelves 22 has agenerally rectangular top surface 28 and contiguous depending peripheralside flanges 30 and end flanges 32. As represented in FIG. 14 theflanges abut fiat sides of the post as drawn into rigidifying squaringcontact therewith by a cross-corner bracket 25 and a tension member 27interconnecting the bracket 25 and post 24a. The general arrangementshown in FIG. 1 of the upright supports and shelves is fabricated inaccordance with this invention. The upright supports are made in halflength sections approximately the length of the shelves whose notchesenable nesting for ease in packaging, shipping, handling and assembly,and the sections are constructed and assembled as herein described intounits long enough to provide the post shown in FIG. 1.

The posts 24 and 26 are generally identical and may be of any tubularconstruction and may have a variety of cross-sectional configurationsgenerally square, rectangular or hexagonal. A preferred form of the post24 is shown in FIG. 2 which is essentially hexagonal with four majorrelationship and the minor walls are in the nature wallscross-sectionally defining a rectangle or square of recessed miteredcorners. The major sides can be identified as the front wall 34, backwall 36 and the side walls 38, the back wall 36 being the wall where thetwo edges 31 of the rolled strip abut, preferably under pressure. Theminor walls 40 join the major walls at work hardened form lines 42, eachpreferably defining an internally acute angle. The form lines 42a borderthe front and back walls 34 and 36 and provide the corners engaged bythe connector as hereinafter described. The end edges 48 of the post aresquare-cut perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the post section.

A cross-slot 44 is provided in the front or back wall 34 or 36 apredetermined distance from each end 48, same being cut across the edgesat 31 when in the back wall to present a narrow elongated opening whichcan be referred to as a T-slot in FIG. 11 having spaced shoulders 46facing away from the post ends 48 and divided at the edges 31 by a notch50 extending towards the ends. The notches may be of several shapes asshown in FIGS. 11 and 12. But they are characterized by shoulders 46facing away from the adjacent end 48 and a notch addition 50 extendingtowards the ends, it being optional if weight bearing shoulders 52 areutilized facing the ends as shownt in FIG. 12. The predetermineddistance from the end surface 48 of each post section 24 is ameasurement related to the shoulders 46 so that the shoulders areinvariably engaged as later described at the time two such post sectionsare joined by a connector so that the assembled post sections can serveas integral units with vertically spaced openings 39 in the minor walls40 to receive the fastening elements 27 at selected shelf heights.

FIGS. 8, 9, l0 and 11 show one form of connector 54 for use inaccordance with this invention, same having an elongated substantiallyflat wall 50 bordered by edges 78 with depending opposed walls 58 and 60extending therefrom and each having diverging flanges 62 and 64 alongthe length of the connector. These parts form a substantially U-shapedchannel and is preferably formed of steel having a fair degree ofresilience so that the walls 58 and 60 along with the flanges 62 and 64can be pressed or sprung toward each other sufficiently, by handpressure, for insertion into the open end 48 of a post 28 section in anorientation described.

A pair of oppositelyy facing T-shaped raised detents 66 and 68 areshear-formed in the flat wall 56 of the connector 54. The dimensions andshape of the detents 66 and 68, as well as their spacing along the wall56 both longitudinally and laterally are essentially important in thisinvention. Each detent has a cam contour 70 rising from the externalface of the wall 56 to a shear-cut raised shoulder 72 facing towards themiddle of the connector body so that the shoulders 70 of the two detentsface each other. It will be observed in FIG. that these detents arelocated to one side of the center line of the wall 56.

The connector 54 has corners 78 and flange edges 82 which engage thefour corners 42a of the post section. The walls 58 and 60 convergetoward each other from the base wall 56 and the flanges 62 and 64diverge in FIGS. 3 and 8 whereas in FIGS. 13 and 14, the walls 58a and60a diverge and the flanges 62a and 64a coverge. Intermediate betweenthe detents 66 and 68, notches 86 are provided in the corners 78 and 80and notches 88 are provided in the edges 82. The notched corners andedges 86 and 88 are in the same plane and cut with their top and bottomedges substantially perpendicular to the axis of the connector 54.

The shear formed detents disclosed in FIGS. 3, 3a, 3b and 3c are springsupported. In this embodiment the flat wall 56 is recessed appreciablybelow the level of the edges 78 and comprise a single blade 69 bentoutwardly at its base to provide a short support portion 71 thatdisposes a flexing portion 73 slightly below the level of the edges 78.The flexing portion has a shoulder portion 72a terminating in twooppositely inclined portions, an insertion cam 70a and a release cam 75which when the spring is in operative position engaging in a cross slot44 extends through and above the cross slot where they can be manuallycontacted and depressed when desired to release the shoulder.

The shoulder 72a is of a height slightly greater than the thickness ofthe metal forming the recess 44 and defines with its supporting elementportion 76 of the flexing portion 73 an obtuse angle. To provide theshoulder with its proper resting position, the supporting elementportion 76 is bent as at 77 to dispose the shoulder at a level above theedges 78 and disposed at an acute angle to the plane of the wall 34having the cross slot 44 in it.

With some exaggeration for explanation purposes in the showing of thespacing between the spring detent elements illustrated in FIG. So, it isto be understood that the composite olf-set height of the elements 71and 76 is just enough to locate the shoulder above the level of theedges 78 and the composite height of the peak of the opposite inclines70a and 75 above the plane of the flexing member 73 is slightly lessthan the depth of recessing of the wall 56 so that the flexing member isfree to flex enough for the inclines to clear the post wall 34 withwhich they cooperate.

It is to be noted however as illustrated in FIG. 3B that the blade 60 iswider than the slot 80 from which it is cut. This is accomplished byshearing the metal outwardly and the appreciable clearances between thedies where the vector line is at an angle whereby the slot 80 is thesize of the male die which is smaller than the die opening and theformed member is of the size of the die opening which is larger than themale die; marginal metal flowing slightly into the clearance space asthe pressure of the shearing edges peaks just prior to molecularseparation in the direction of die movement. This provides marginallyrounded edges for manual engagement and actuation alone, and aninterference relationship which prevents spring damage when theconnector spring 73 is being manually depressed for release.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, there is shown a plastic pad or washerhaving upper and lower flat surfaces 94- and 96 defining an essentiallyrectangular configuration with the surfaces 94 and 96 extendingtherearound continuously on the four sides except for an appreciablelateral deflection at the slots 98 away from the central portion. Theflat surfaces have guide elements received within the ends of the postsections comprising conical camlike protuberances 92 thereon. The slots98 engage the walls 58 and 60 with the remainder of the pads received innotches 86 and 88 to provide adequate guidance and anchorage for thepads between the section ends 48 when assembled.

The pads 90 are formed of tough resilient plastic or firm rubber havinga sufiicient body and resistance to comression to sandwich firmlybetween the opposing edges 48 of the post sections as will be described.Moreover, the pads 90 are sufficiently flexible to be sprung open andassembled in place as described around the connector 54 in the mannershown in FIG. 3, with the slots 98 encompassing the outer surface of theconnector, and engaged at and between the corner and edge notches 96 and98.

The manner of using the connector of this invention has become apparentfrom this description. A pad 94 and connector 54 are assembled as shownin FIG. 3. One end of the connector is squeezed and forced inside thetop open end 48 of one post section 24 with the flat wall 56 adjacenteither to the front or split wall 36 as described in the severalembodiments. The arms are pressed inwardly so that the guide elements 92are received within the post end 48. In FIGS. 8 to 11 the cam 70 of thedetent 68 engages the split wall 36 and springs it outwardly to permitthe detent to reach the T-slot 44 whereupon the split wail springs backand shoulders 46 and 72 interlock. The other post section is thensimilarly pressed over the other end of the connector until its T-slot44 passes into locking relationship onto the detent 68 and its shoulder72 interlocks with shoulder 46.

In FIGS. 2 to 7, the blade 69 is pressed inwardly to assure clearancesfor entry of the cam 70a which then flexes and slides along the insideof the wall 34 and springs outwardly into the cross-slot when reachedfor the engagement by the shoulder 72a of the slot edge or shoulder 46.

The final assembly is shown in FIGS. 9 and 7, respectively, where theends 48 rest against pad 90' in weight bearing relation with an edgeportion of the pad 90 extending outwardly as a trim, and the assembledsections are held against pulling apart by the shoulders 72 and 46 orshoulders 72a and 46 in the respective embodiments.

Assuming, however, that a customer has performed the assembly prescribedbut inadvertently left out the pad 90. Referring to FIG. 11, it will beobserved that the two post sections can be disassembled by one beingtwisted rotatively by hand in one direction and the other twisted in theother direction. In the example shown the upper post has been twistedclockwise, the split 31 has separated to receive the detent 66 again andwith a little wiggling the post sections separate. The pad is thensupplied and reassembly made. Once the assembled posts are assembledwith shelves to make shelving, the shelves and posts in this embodimentcooperate to prevent any twisting and therefore the assembled posts inshelving perform as rigid integral units.

In FIG. 7, the post assembly cannot be separated without intentionallydepressing the spring elements and with this embodiment upper sectionscan be removed for use on other lower sections of like construction orinterchangeable with other embodiments described, or as separateshelving units by themselves.

In FIG. 12, the T-slots are modified whereby the detent portion definingthe shoulders 46 upon twisting provide a rotational cam 70b whichreleases for disassembly from 7 either a modified T-slot (FIG. 8) or asquared T-slot (FIG. 12).

It will also be noted that with the predetermined spacing of shoulders72 and 72a and the slot shoulders 46, the connectors 36 can be aperturedquite accurately in the corners 78 as at 84 (FIGS. 3 and 8) at the samelevel as the fastener receiving openings 39 so that shelves can belocated at any height without disturbing the rigidity and ruggedness ofthe assembled post sections.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 13 and 14 wherein the shape of theintermediate post 26 (FIG. 1) can be modilied to provide a novelrecessed panel construction which gives the appearance of two postsside-by-side, it being appreciated that this post can also be used forend posts if desired if any possibility of adding further shelving latermight be involved.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 the uninterrupted wall 34ais treated as the back wall and the front wall is divided into twocoplanar horizontally spaced vertical walls 102 which, with the parallelside walls, provide square corner constructions as at 100. Between thesewalls 102 the metal is roll-formed inwardly to provide squared corners42b and the facing panels 104 which give a visual depth to the post. Thefacing panel on one side terminates in a longitudinal groove 106 openingtowards the opposite one of the walls 104 while the opposite one of thewalls is roll-formed to provide a forwardly facing inner wall portion108 which can be of single thickness as shown in FIG. 14 whose edge isreceived in said groove 106, or a double thickness of reversely foldedwall portions 108a as shown in FIG. 13 where the fold line is receivedin the groove 106 with the free edge exposed.

The posts of the invention are pre-coated and the embodiment of FIG. 13is provided with different colors on the opposite faces of the striprolled. It will be observed that in FIG. 14 the color of all exposedwalls will be the same whereas in FIG. 13 the recessed panel wall willbe the other of the two colors, thereby providing a panel color contraston the front walls.

In this embodiment, as already mentioned the connector 54a has divergingside walls 58a and 60a and converging flanges 62a and 64a with detentmeans of either FIG. 3 or of FIG. 8 in the wall 56. The corners 78slidingly engage the form line corners 42a while the edges 82 of theflanges 62a and 64a engage to form line corners 42b under a compressiveaction urging the inner wall portion 108 into firmer engagement with thegroove 106. In this instance the connector and the pad are constructedand arranged as described in connection with FIGS. 3 and 8, the outercontour being changed to follow the outer contour of the post so thatthe panel recess is continuous throughout the length of the assembledpost.

FIG. 9 shows annular or doughnut-shaped plastic foot or leveler members130 having upstanding elements 132 frictionally received at the bottomend of the posts 24 and 26 where they are engaged and held essentiallyby the walls 34 and 36. The elements 132 are deep insert elementsessentially H-shaped with the sides interengaging the post walls 34 and36. The leveler members have a peripheral flange portion 136 extendingbeyond the perimeters of the post ends and following their contoursengages the end edges 48 of the post section in weight bearing relationas shown in FIG. 9. The bottom portion of the flanges have a flatsurface 138 to engage the floor surface and a recess 140 is provided inthe underside which is the same size and shape as the base 132 so thattwo or more levelers 130 can be nested one upon the other in the mannershown in FIG. 9 to bring all of the bottom ends into a common plane ofan irregular floor during installation. The outer surfaces 142 of theupstanding elements l32a have cam ribs 144 on them to tighten thetelescoping relation which the upstanding elements 132 have with thepost walls and recesses 140 with whichever they ultimately becomeassociated.

Thus, it will be observed how the post sections, shortened for shippingconvenience, can be easily assembled together and to shelves to becomeintegrated post elements whereby the assembled shelving can be lifted bythe top of the posts and the feet or le'veler members inserted andadjusted, and the shelving installed in proper place with no danger ofpost separation, yet shelves can be adjusted as to level at any timewithout weakening the posts and the shelving can be disassembled andreassembled with minimum trouble or experience.

Having described the present invention and several embodiments thereof,it will be observed how the operation and objects are attained and howfurther changes can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet metal shelving assembly:

(a) a supporting post composing a pair of separate elongated hollowsections of substantially the same cross-sectional configuration, eachhaving matching internal corners defined by a confining wall;

(b) said confining wall of said sections having a flat portion extendingfrom and along one of said corners to abuttable ends of said sections;

(c) an aperture through each of said flat Wall portions a predetermineddistance from said ends;

(6.) an elongated connector within said hollow sections of said posthaving longitudinal edges engaging said internal corners in said matchedrelationship, and holding said ends in contiguous aligned relationshipwith said wall portions in substantially the same plane;

(e) said connector having an outer wall portion adjacent and parallel tothe plane of said wall portions of said sections; and

(f) a pair of outwardly depending spring detent elements in said outerwall portion adapted to engage said apertures and maintain the alignedrelationship of said sections.

2. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which:

(a) said apertures in said wall portions having longitudinally spacedopposing inner edges;

(b) said spring detents have longitudinally spaced outer edges; and

(c) the inner edges of said apertures engaging the outer edges of saidspring detents in a snap-fit relationship to hold said post sectionsupon said connector.

3. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which:

(a) said confining wall is roll formed from a single metal sheet andsaid wall portions of said sections comprise inwardly depending coplanarflat elongated flanges with their marginal edges in spaced opposedrelationship therealong;

(b) said apertures are formed across said marginal edges and havelongitudinally spaced opposing inner edges thereacross; and

(c) said spring detents have longitudinally spaced outer edges adaptedto be engaged between the inner edges of said apertures.

4. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which:

(a) a resilient spacer is provided in abutting relationship between thealigned ends of said hollow sections.

5. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which:

(a) said hollow sections have four internal corners;

and

(b) said connector is an elongated U-shaped member with saidlongitudinal edges along resilient opposed flanges thereof disposed in apair of said internal corners.

6. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 in which:

(a) said aperaures in said flat wall portions of said sections haveintersecting longitudinal and transverse openings; and

(b) said spring detent elements have intersecting longitudinal andtransverse raised portion adapted to fit within said apertures.

7. A sheet metal assembly in accordance with claim 1 including:

(a) a leveler member having a raised top and a concave bottom adapted tobe inserted into and under the bottom of said support with said raisedportions and said concave portions being of the same shape and sizewhereby a second leveler can be placed under said first leveler with itsraised portion in nested relationship with said concave portion of saidfirst leveler.

8. In a knockdown sheet metal shelving assembly (a) a plurality of rollformed cross sectionally polygonal upright supporting posts having aplurality of major sides having four parallel form-rolled substantiallyright angle corners of a substantially rectangular figure; and

(b) at least two spaced narrow minor sides disposed at a right angle toeach other and [intergral] integral with two right angle corners andhaving vertically spaced openings therein paired at identical levels forsupporting shelves at different levels;

(c) said openings being of a size threadedly receiving fastening elementand said minor sides joining the major sides along work hardened formlines in close proximity to the openings to oppose stresses exertedaxially outwardly around said openings.

9. The combination called for in claim 8 including:

(a) a connector having [saving] three cross-sectional leg portionsdefining two corners engaging two adjacent right angle corners of eachof two supporting posts terminally disposed in alignment with eachother; and

(b) two edges parallel with the two corners engaging the remaining rightangle corners under opposing pressure.

10. The combination called for in claim 9 in which:

(a) said supporting posts have recesses spaced from their ends withshoulders facing from said ends; and

(b) said connector having detents with shoulders opposing said recessshoulders in engagement therewith against rectilineal disassembly whenthe adjacent ends of aligned posts are disposed in a predeterminedweight bearing relationship with respect to each other.

11. The combination called for in claim 10 in which:

(a) said predetermined relationship is a spaced one;

and

(b) including pad means carried by said connector intermediate its endsdisposed in said spaced between the spaced ends of the aligned posts inweight bearing relationship.

12. The combination called for in claim 8 in which:

(a) two of said major sides are spaced and coplanar and have inwardlydirected rolled flanges forming two of said right angle corners andwalls defining a recess between them; and

(b) said flanges terminating in interengaging edges defining a recessedpanel between the walls.

13. The combination called for in claim 12 in which:

(a) one of said engaging edges is reversely bent upon itself to exposethe reverse face side thereof between said walls.

14. The combination called for in claim 8 including:

(a) a U-shaped connector having two acute angle corners engaging two ofsaid right angle corners, two marginal edges engaging the other twocorners under opposed pressure and a recessed face portion inter- 10connecting the first mentioned two right angle corners; and

(b) a shear formed spring blade cut longitudinally from said recessedface and having a spring portion extending towards the end of theconnector and terminating in an oppositely inclined cam section defininga shoulder facing away from said end and supported above the level ofsaid acute angle corners by the spring member in tension.

15. In a knockdown sheet metal shelving assembly:

(a) a roll-formed octangular upright supporting post having fourform-rolled substantially right angle corners defining the corners of arectangular figure; and

(b) four minor sides each contiguous with one of said corners and,[having vertically spaced means in] at least two of said minor sidesdefining recessed mitered corners disposed at right angles to each otherand having vertically spaced means paired at identical levels forreleasably supporting shelves in vertically rigid relationship.

16. The combination called for in claim 15 including:

(a) a U-shaped connector having two acute angle corners engaging two ofsaid corners and two marginal edges engaging the other two corners underopposing pressure; and

(b) means interlocking said connector with either end of said supportingpost a spaced distance therefrom against rectilineal movement afterinsertion a predetermined distance with the end of said post end.

1'7. In a knockdown sheet metal shelving assembly:

(a) a plurality of roll-formed cross-sectional polygonal uprightsupporting posts two of which have a plurality of major sides with atleast two parallel corners defining between them aligned major sideshaving cross-slots therein spaced a predetermined distance from theiradjacent ends;

(b) a connector bridging said ends and having two corners engaging saidparallel corners and defining a recessed wall between them overlappingsaid aligned major sides;

(c) two oppositely directed spring blades carried by the recessed walleach having a shoulder defining an acute angle with respect to said wallwith the two shoulders facing towards each other and with the bladeportions beyond the shoulders terminating in convex earns, the terminalend portions of the cams, and said shoulders extending above the levelof said connector corners for engagement in said cross slots.

18. The connector called for in claim 17 having recesses through theconnector corners at their mid-point; and

(a) including a pad received in supported relation in said recessesdisposed in weight supporting abutting relationship between the ends ofsaid posts and having guide protuberances on its opposite faces engagingthe inside wall edges of said posts in guided relation.

19. In a knockdown sheet metal shelving assembly, an upright supportingpost of roll-formed strip metal havmg (a) a pair of spaced major wallportions disposed at a right angle to each other, and

(b) -a minor wall portion disposed diagonally between and joiningadjacent edges of the major wall portions along work hardened form linesdefining internal [angels] angles,

(c) said minor wall portion being in the nature of a recessed miteredcorner between said form lines receiving apertures therethrough.

20. The shelving assembly called for in claim 19 in which [said minorwall portion defines a recessed mitered corner between said form lines,and] said angles are work hardened internally acute angles.

21. The shelving assem ly called for in claim 19 in which a second minorwall portion interconnects one of said major wall portions and a thirdmajor wall portion parallel with the other of said pair of major wallportions.

22. The combination defined in claim 8 in which said two right anglecorners define narrow wall portions at each of the two right anglecorners disposed diagonally to and joining said major sides at thecorners along work hardened form lines.

23. The combination called for in claim 8 in which said minor sides arerecessed.

24. A shelving assembly called for in claim 19 in which said receivingapertures are of a size to illrcrclzguge a threaded fastener element.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,952,111 3/1934 Bales l08l07 2,950,826 8/1960Degener 211--148 3,199,471 8/1965 Orsi 211-148 X 3,255,722 6/1966Ferdinand 248-250 X 3,278,043 10/1966 Kimpton 211-148 3,352,584 11/1967Engel 211148 X NILE C. BYERS, 1a., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT ovum;

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. RE 27,200 Dated October 26, 1971Inventor) IRWIN J. FERDINAND et a1 It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below i Column 4, line 35, in the specification,change "hexagonal" to -octagonal line 36, in the specification, change"hexagonal" to octagonal line 37, in the specification, deleterelationship and the minor walls are in the nature" I 1 line 38, in thespecification, after "square" insert relationship and the minor wallsare in the nature Column l0,line 69, in Claim 19 after "lines" insertand having fastener Signed and sealed this 12th day of December 197 2 r(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M..FLETCHER ,JR, ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents

